


Growing pains

by Venxvon



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Childhood Friends to Lovers, I know its unexpected but you gotta trust me on that last character, M/M, Rated t because they swear like.... three times, Ushijima "Pining is not a competition but if it was I would Win" Wakatoshi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21947566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venxvon/pseuds/Venxvon
Summary: Wakatoshi wonders if they would’ve ended up like this no matter what. That, even if they hadn’t grown up together, or hadn’t spent so long working together, if he’d still end up here with Satori in his arms.
Relationships: Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 17
Kudos: 213
Collections: Haikyuu Secret Santa 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GhostsandGhouls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhostsandGhouls/gifts).



> Hi!!!! Here’s your fic!! I’ll have the next two parts up soon but I’ll let you know that the next chapter is when everything comes to a head!! And the last chapter is an epilogue!! I still really hope you enjoy it!! I love your writing a lot so it’s really an honor to write for you!

Wakatoshi is 8 when he meets his best friend. 

———

Wakatoshi closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. They had moved seats today, and while normally that wasn’t an issue, he had been put in the back _again_ and also had been put next to quite the distracting seatmate. Wakatoshi did not dislike any of his classmates (and even if he did, he had been taught not to display that sort of thing), but if the boy next to him tossed, then _dropped,_ his pencil one more time Wakatoshi might be moved to drastic action. He didn’t know the boy very well, and Wakatoshi could understand the urge to toss, he had felt the urge before. Normally it was when he had a volleyball in his hands of course, but to each their own. Still it wasn’t-

The pencil clatters onto the desk again and Wakatoshi lets out another, fairly aggressive, breath. He tries once more to focus on what the teacher is saying. He has never faced much trouble with school, and _yes_ he has tutors who helped him, but he would rather pay attention to the teacher and do his work than be overconfident and risk his grades. His mother had already voiced her disapproval with the idea of a normal elementary school and he didn’t need to give her reason to pull him out when his father had already tried so hard to get him there. His brow furrows as he thought of them, was that a normal argument for parents? 

The boy picks the pencil up again and for a blessed moment Wakatoshi thinks he is actually going to start writing with it and stop distracting him from the lesson. He lets out a sigh of relief and begins doing the problems on the worksheet, if he works quickly now he can catch up to the teacher.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees something spinning in the air. That was it.

Wakatoshi turns and snatches the pencil out of the air. Catching it right before it landed on the desk again. The other boy turns, eyes wide, bowl cut swishing, and Wakatoshi realizes he had never gotten a proper look at the boy next to him. 

The boys eyes were already fairly large, but with the way they had widened in surprise at Wakatoshi’s sudden movement it felt like they took up half his face. His irises were as red as his hair, which was cut in one of the roundest bowl cuts Wakatoshi had ever seen. His mouth was slightly open from the surprise of Wakatoshi’s arm suddenly appearing in front of him and snatching his pencil from his grasp. His face was almost as round as his hair, and Wakatoshi wonders briefly what it would feel like to poke one of his cheeks.

He blinks in surprise at that last thought. 

Still, that slight movement seemed to be enough to knock the other boy out of his daze and his face immediately shifts to one of utter glee. 

“Hey!” The other boy half yells, making Wakatoshi wince because they were still in a _classroom_ , something the other boy does not seem to mind. “I totally had it that time, you ruined it!” 

The boy’s words do not match his smile or his tone, and Wakatoshi knows other kids could be confusing but this definitely took the cake. The boy’s eyes seem almost laser focused on him as he continues to babble about how he ‘definitely was going to catch it this time!’ And that ‘now his focus was ruined!’ Smile going strong the entire time. And, it was difficult to make Wakatoshi uncomfortable, but he was starting to understand why others had trouble with maintaining eye contact. 

“Boys!” The teacher’s voice rang out through the class, and both boys stiffen in surprise and turned towards the teacher. He sighs at their startled expressions and puts his hands on his hips. “Are you two done talking or would you like for me to wait until you finish your conversation to continue the lesson?” 

Wakatoshi was unused to feeling embarrassed but he had experienced many new things in the past few minutes, so the feeling of his ears burning as he shakes his head isn’t quite a surprise. 

The other boy also seemed to be a little embarrassed but was much better at hiding it than Wakatoshi. Shooting an “okay” sign at their teacher, who sighs again but moves to continue the lesson. Then he glances at the boy next to him again and raises an eyebrow. 

“Satori are you going to continue on the worksheet with the rest of the class?” The teacher asks, the bit of resignation in his tone implying he knows the answer.

“Well you see,” The boy, now Satori, begins and Wakatoshi has a feeling he’s about to be pulled into this. The fact he’s still holding onto Satori’s pencil completely unrelated. 

Maybe a little related.

“I was _gonna_ do the worksheet teach, but it seems my pencil’s been kidnapped,” Satori continues, gesturing to where Wakatoshi still had his pencil in his grip. 

Wakatoshi sends him a betrayed look. Satori just grins back at him. The teacher sighs again and looks at Wakatoshi, leveling him with the full force of his disappointment. Wakatoshi feels his ears burn a little hotter as the class shifts their gaze to him as well. 

“Wakatoshi I understand wanting to have fun with your friends but please save it for after class. You wouldn’t want to distract Satori too much would you?” 

Wakatoshi shakes his head and drops Satori’s pencil on his desk like it burned him. He can tell Satori was grinning at him still but he elects to ignore this. He begins writing on the worksheet, determined to catch up with the class and ignore Satori for the rest of the class. 

The teacher shakes his head but continues with the lesson. Satori is still grinning at him, but Wakatoshi dedicates himself to the lesson, determined not to fall prey to Satori's distractions again. 

  
  
  


Wakatoshi manages to avoid getting distracted by Satori until lunch. 

There isn’t much opportunity to avoid Satori during lunch, unless he wants to outright ignore him. But that felt like it would be a little too harsh. They also sat next to each other, so it was only a matter of Satori turning his desk to face Wakatoshi before they ate.

“So!” Satori begins, jumping up in his seat a bit, red hair swishing with the movement. 

Wakatoshi blinks at him, taking a bite of his own food. Satori stares back at him expectantly. 

“Okay I’ll start!” The boy continues, and Wakatoshi feels like he missed something. “My name is Satori Tendou! But you can just call me Satori!” The boy stares at him for another second before continuing, “And what’s your name?”

“My name is Wakatoshi Ushijima,” Wakatoshi replies blandly, wondering what the point of this conversation was. 

“That’s a cool name!” Satori responds, and before Wakatoshi can thank him, he continues. “How did you grab the pencil out of the air like that!” 

“I closed my hand in time. You didn’t,” Wakatoshi replies calmly, not reacting to the fact Satori is now leaning across his desk to get as close to Wakatoshi’s face as possible. “So it was just bouncing out,” Satori blinks at him, “Of your hand.” Wakatoshi finishes, taking another bite of his food. 

“Oh!” Satori exclaims, sitting back in his seat, bangs swinging with the movement. Wakatoshi wonders if any part of him ever remains still. Can you do it then?” 

Wakatoshi nods, still chewing. 

“Awesome!” Satori hands him a pencil, “Show me now!” 

Wakatoshi nods again and takes the pencil, swallowing his food before he tosses the pencil. He holds the end of the pencil and gives it a little flick, watching it spin in the air, then stopping the spin and catching it in his hand. Satori looks utterly delighted by this and immediately calls for him to do it again. Wakatoshi obliges, this time putting more force behind the flick so the pencil goes higher. Satori laughs happily at this, and Wakatoshi can feel his lips attempt to lift a bit at the sound.

“Again!” Satori calls, clapping when Wakatoshi does it again, the pencil going higher than last time. “That’s so cool Wakatoshi!” 

Wakatoshi does not consider this very cool, but the look on Satori’s face is happy enough he’s willing to reconsider.

He tosses the pencil again, watching as it goes high enough it looks like it might hit the ceiling. It reaches it peak without interference though, and begins to fall back down, still spinning. Wakatoshi opens his hand and prepares to catch it.

The pencil never comes. 

He looks down at his hand in surprise, eyes crinkling at the edges in confusion. There, right above his hand, is Satori’s hand.

Holding the pencil. 

Wakatoshi looks back up at Satori, brows furrowed. Satori smiles back at him, eyes back to the full intensity they reached earlier. 

Satori turns his hand over and places the pencil back in Wakatoshi’s hand, closing his fingers over the pencil. And Wakatoshi knew he ran a bit warm but Satori’s fingers were _freezing_ , and Satori’s eyes relaxed a bit, the smile turning a bit softer.

“I think we’re going to be very good friends.” 

Wakatoshi stares back at him uneasily.

+++++

He’s 11 years old when he realizes Satori might not just be his best friend.

——— 

Wakatoshi is ashamed to admit that he is avoiding Satori. 

It’s not because of anything Satori had done! If anything it was completely Wakatoshi’s fault, if this was something that you could fault someone for.

It seemed Satori had impressive skills in predicting the future because true to his words, he and Wakatoshi _had_ become good friends after meeting several years before, sharing their mutual interest in volleyball, and Satori unsuccessfully attempting to get Wakatoshi into manga. They had also managed to remain in the same class over time, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say Satori was his best friend. 

But here Wakatoshi was, covering class chores for another boy in their class so he wouldn’t have to sit with Satori during lunch. 

He feels the same burn in his chest and clenches the stack of papers in his hands tighter. 

“Wakatoshi?” The girl walking with him, Misaki Hana, he thinks, asks softly. Wakatoshi looks up, clearing his face to try not to show he was distracted. 

“We’re… here already,” she gestures to the office door in front of them. “You were pretty zoned out there, are you okay?” 

Wakatoshi’s first instinct is to deny everything and brush it off, like he had for Satori recently. Then he thinks about the look Satori had been giving him when he told Satori he was fine. He takes a deep breath. 

“I think I will be,” he nods at her in appreciation, “But thank you for asking.” 

She smiles back at him, dropping the papers in the room and walking back to the door. She waits as he gently places his papers on the desk in front of him. 

“Well if you ever need to talk I’ll be here!” She tilts her head as her smile grows, and her hair swings and falls nicely as he walks over to her.

Her brown hair is cut in a bob and Wakatoshi thinks it compliments her face well. Her smile is nice to look at, and she adds hair clips and pins to make her uniform look nicer. Objectively he knows she’s cute, she’s well spoken, and from what he remembers from class she answers questions often and gets good grades on exams. 

But still his mind wanders to obnoxiously red hair and a bowl cut and a smile that’s almost always missing a tooth. He thinks of a smile so wide it looks like it’s about to split the persons face in half, of a kind of bad personality, and intense, analytical, red eyes. 

They begin walking back to class, and Wakatoshi clenches and relaxes his fists, restless, wondering if he should actually talk to her. He didn’t know her that well, only remembered her name from how often she’s called on and because they’ve been in the same class for a few years. 

Still, it isn’t as if he has many other people he could talk to about this, because normally it would be Satori. And well, this time he can’t go to Satori. 

He takes a deep breath and turns his head to look at Misaki, whose eyes are open and expectant. Waiting for him to begin. He tries to think of the proper way of putting it. 

“What do you do if you can’t stop thinking about someone?” 

Her face turns a little red at his question, and he wonders if maybe that wasn’t the way he should have put it. 

“In what way do you mean?” She asks, obviously trying to overcome her surprise and encourage him to continue. He chews his lip and stops walking. 

“No matter what I do, my thoughts always seem to come back to Satori.” He explains, trying to stop himself from showing any other nervous habits.

Her eyes widen and her face turns red again, and he catches her quietly repeat “ _Satori?”_ He hurriedly continues. 

“I’m not sure why, because we’ve always been,” he tries to find the word for it, “close? But I’ve never really experienced anything… like this.” He looks up at her, eyes unsure. 

“W-well,” her face turns determined, and encouraging, and Wakatoshi wonders what threw her off in the first place. “Do you feel any different when you’re with him?” 

Wakatoshi considers this, _did_ he feel any different now? Before, being with Satori had kept him alert, as Satori was prone to do unexpected things without any warning. His volume and mood changed constantly, and Wakatoshi had gotten used to the suddenness of it over the years. He had felt happy with Satori pretty often as well, but nowadays he wasn’t sure if ‘happy’ was the right word for it. Now when he saw Satori he felt happy but he also felt, felt… warm? 

“I think I feel warmer,” he states simply. 

He thinks he hears Misaki murmur something along the lines of ‘ _don’t say it like you’re just catching a fever.’_ And he opens his mouth to tell her he is perfectly healthy when she continues. 

“Wakatoshi do you like anyone?” This seems like an odd question to Wakatoshi, of course he likes people, how would be friends with Satori otherwise? 

“I do like people,” he confirms, instead of questioning her. “I like Satori, I like you, I like my volleyball coach.” Her face falls and Wakatoshi is getting more confused by this conversation as it continues. 

“No no no, not ‘like’ as a friend or because they’re nice I mean do you have romantic feelings for anyone right now?” Wakatoshi’s brow furrows again, what did that have to do with his question? 

“No, I do not have romantic feelings right now.” 

“But you think about Satori all the time?” She prompts, and is she implying that he has feelings for _Satori?_

“Recently yes,” he replies warily.

“And you feel ‘warm’ whenever you’re around him?” 

“Whenever I see him, and sometimes, think of him,” He confirms. He’s pretty sure he hears her whisper ‘ _that’s so cute’_ before continuing. 

“You’ve known Satori for a long time right?” 

“Yes.” 

“Have you considered if you would want to be _closer_ to Satori?” Her eyes are determined, and her face is no longer red. 

Wakatoshi is not sure they could be any closer, Satori goes to his house every other day, and on the days Satori isn’t at Wakatoshi’s house Wakatoshi is often at Satori’s. They spend most of their time together, and Wakatoshi is pretty sure he knows everything there is to know about Satori. He tells her as much. 

“Well, I mean like! Like holding hands! Or something like that.” 

“We already hold hands,” he informs her. 

“You- wait what?” 

“Satori is often very cold,” Wakatoshi explains. “I am fairly warm year round. It helps him so I do not mind. Look,” he puts his hand out. 

She gingerly places her hand in his, and then her face lights up in surprise. “See?” He asks, content with his explanation. 

“Okay you _are_ very warm but have you considered maybe holding hands with Satori just because you want to? Or- oh!” Her face lights up, “hugging him really tight and keeping him close to you because you want to!” 

“Isn’t that something I could still do as a close friend?” 

“But think about it!” She tries, “does it make that warm feeling warmer?” 

Wakatoshi thinks about it, about holding Satori close, and holding his hand without a purpose. Satori would squirm a lot, he had never been very good at holding still. Would Satori even like hugs? He had always been fairly tactile but Wakatoshi doesn’t ever remember them _hugging_. He feels his lips press together. 

“Don’t overthink it!” Misaki warns, “Just think about hugging him.” 

Wakatoshi throws the other thoughts out of his mind, if Satori _did_ like hugs he’d be better about not moving around so much. Wakatoshi was still taller than Satori so he’d be able envelop Satori in a hug quite easily. Satori was also very vocal about how much he envied Wakatoshi’s warmth, and he’d lean into the hug, try to steal as much of Wakatoshi’s warmth as possible. 

Wakatoshi feels his face and ears heating up, and thinks, maybe, Misaki is on to something. 

She notices his red face and fist pumps in victory. 

“You don’t have to worry about it too much now,” she comforts, which is good because now Wakatoshi’s beginning to have _thoughts_. “But think about it okay?” 

Wakatoshi nods and they make their way back to the classroom. 

Before they enter they see a few boys walking out, talking about doing something outside, needing to get a court before they were all taken. 

“Ugh as long as we don’t have to play with Satori,” one boy says. 

“Yeah, he’s creepy,” another boy agrees, and Wakatoshi turns to face them, mouth already set in an angry line. 

“Doesn’t he kind of remind of you of a _monster_?” Another chimes in, and the rest giggle in agreement. Wakatoshi prepares to say something he would probably regret, and takes a step towards them. 

He’s stopped by Misaki, who grabs his hand before he can reach them. She gently pulls him back and shakes her head. 

“They’re not worth it Wakatoshi. Plus,” she sends him a sly smile. “I know where they sit in class.” 

Wakatoshi isn’t sure how this benefits them but he nods in agreement and they walk into class together. He immediately spots Satori sitting alone, head hanging down and bangs covering his eyes. He feels his hands clench, Satori had heard the boys then. 

“ _Wakatoshi_ ,” Misaki hisses, and Wakatoshi remembers he’s still holding her hand. He relaxes his hand and rubs his thumb over her hand in apology. 

But Misaki’s whisper was enough to get Satori’s attention, who immediately looks over to where the sound came from. His eyes meet Wakatoshi’s and then move down, to where his hand is still holding Misaki’s. Satori raises an eyebrow at him, a small smile appearing on his face and Wakatoshi and Misaki immediately let go, Misaki’s face going red as she spins around to go tell the teacher they were done. Satori wiggles his eyebrows at Wakatoshi and Wakatoshi finds himself turning to follow Misaki as fast as he can. He would have to explain that later, make sure Satori did not get the… wrong idea. 

As he and Misaki finish talking with the teacher she subtly points out to him where the boys sat, then points to the pencils resting on their desks. She makes a stomping motion and Wakatoshi nods in agreement. 

He goes to sit with Satori, whatever he was currently feeling could wait, he would not be avoiding Satori any longer. Hearing the other boys reminded Wakatoshi that Satori did not have many other people to talk to. What kind of best friend would he be if he left Satori alone? 

He sits down in front of Satori, who jumps at the noise. Satori looks surprised at seeing him, though he still smiles when he sees Wakatoshi there. 

“Aren’t you going to sit with Misaki?” He asks, never one to beat around the bush. 

“Why would I do that?” Wakatoshi asks simply, putting his right hand on the desk as he wasn’t using it to eat. “I’m your best friend aren’t I?” 

A bright blush immediately blooms across Satori’s face, mouth open in surprise. Wakatoshi feels the warmth in his chest spread. 

“I guess you’re right!” Satori agrees, taking Wakatoshi’s hand happily and continuing to eat. Satori’s hands are as cold as always, but Wakatoshi swears the warmth spreads further. He could get used to this. 

And if later, he and Misaki knock over and snap every single one of those boys’ pencils. Well, that’s something Satori probably didn’t need to know about. 

++++++

He’s 12 when he understand what it’s like to feel someone else’s disappointment. 

———

Wakatoshi knows he and Satori will not go to the same middle school. He has already been accepted to Shiratorizawa Middle on a sports scholarship. While he didn’t consider Satori a _bad_ volleyball player, he also knew Satori wasn’t on the same level as Shiratorizawa students. Satori had promised him that he would apply either way, but neither of them were holding out much hope. 

Satori had joked about it, had told him that if they didn’t go to the same school then they would just have to spend more time together _outside_ of school! Wakatoshi had felt happy at that, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy. He was already devoting more time to volleyball, and he knew that the Shiratorizawa team would take even more than he was already giving. 

So he had simply nodded in agreement, not giving it much thought. They would figure it out. 

Now Satori had gotten the response from Shiratorizawa. Their hands were clasped together as he opened it, envelope falling to the ground. 

Satori’s shoulders slumped as he read and Wakatoshi understood what the letter had said. So they would be going to different middle schools then, that would be fine. He had expected this, but he still feels the disappointment heavy in his chest. He tightens his hand around Satori’s trying to offer some sort of silent support. Satori collapses against his side and lets out a deep sigh in response. 

“Looks like we’ll be spending a lot of time together outside of class huh ‘Toshi?” Satori breathes and it takes everything in Wakatoshi not to shiver at the feeling of Satori’s breath on his neck. 

“We will,” Wakatoshi tells him, and tries to make it feel like the truth. 

He ignores the pit in his chest and spends the rest of the day letting Satori do whatever he wants. 

They’ll be fine. They always are.

+++++++

He’s 15 when Satori comes to him first. 

———

It had been awhile since he had last seen Tendou. Wakatoshi had been right in assuming that Shiratorizawa would take up a lot more time than elementary school volleyball training. He wasn’t mad about it, and didn’t complain like some of the other kids, but every now and then he would wonder how Tendou was doing. 

Would miss the feeling he got whenever they were around each other. 

Wakatoshi takes a deep breath and tries to focus on his run. Running while distracted could result in a fall, and he didn’t need any injuries slowing him down. He had worked hard to be a starting member all three years, his route to continue onto Shiratorizawa High School was basically set and he didn’t want to ruin it. 

He continues his run and tries not to think of Tendou for the rest of practice.   
  


When he arrives home he’s surprised to see Tendou waiting for him in his room. Before, this would’ve been a common sight, but they hadn’t seen each other in a few months and Tendou hadn’t even notified him beforehand. 

“Tooooshiiiiiiii” Tendou whines, not even looking up from his phone, “I’m booreddddd.” 

“I still need to shower Tendou,” he replies, ignoring Tendou’s pout at his use of the boy’s last name and not his first. 

It’s something Wakatoshi had started during their second year of middle school, tired of hearing other boys question him for continuing to use Tendou’s first name. Tendou had protested violently when he started, and it had almost led up to their first fight as friends. 

Wakatoshi didn’t like to think about it much. 

“Wakkunnnnnnn,” Tendou whines again, and Wakatoshi can feel the fondness quickly building in his chest. 

He had gotten better at figuring out how to name the feelings Tendou incited in him. Hana had helped, they kept in contact, not as much as they should have, but they texted each other. They had even met up a few times, Wakatoshi was proud to say he had managed to get Tendou and Hana to become friends. 

He smiles, thinking about their shared hangouts. He should text her soon. He didn’t like to think much about his feelings towards Tendou but she always approached it in a way that made it less embarrassing. 

“Wait for me to shower,” He answers again simply. 

Tendou whines again, but doesn’t move to complain further. Wakatoshi places his bag down by his bed, and Tendou blindly flings a hand out which Wakatoshi easily avoids as he makes his way to the bathroom. 

After he showers he walks back into his room to find Tendou half hanging off his bed, newest issue of Jump open in front of him. Wakatoshi smiles at the sight of him, it had been a while since they had just been able to hang out. 

Wakatoshi walks over to his bed, then promptly collapses on top of Tendou. Tendou lets out a squeak of protest and immediately begins squirming under him. Wakatoshi lets out a chuckle as Tendou continues trying to push him off. 

Wakatoshi pulls out his phone as Tendou attempts to kick him. 

“Should I invite Hana over?” Wakatoshi asks, pulling up her contact. 

Tendou immediately stops moving under him, dropping his copy of Shounen Jump and trying to turn under him so he could try facing Wakatoshi. 

“Is there a reason you want her to come?” Tendou asks half turned and half crushed, and Wakatoshi isn’t sure what to make of his tone. 

“It’s been a while since we’ve all been able to hang out hasn’t it?” Wakatoshi asks, and Tendou’s mouth sets into a hard line. 

Wakatoshi thinks he might’ve said the wrong thing. 

“It’s been a while since _we've_ hung out at all Wakatoshi!” Tendou replies, and he tries not to think about the lack of nickname. “It’s been months since I’ve even seen you! High school entrance exams and acceptances ended for all the schools in our area three weeks ago and you didn’t even ask me where I’m going!” 

Wakatoshi realizes now is most likely not the time to be on top of his friend and he slowly gets up. Tendou immediately escapes from under him and sits on the floor in front of him, arms crossed in front of him. He was curling in on himself, and it hits Wakatoshi how uncomfortable Tendou looked. 

“Wakatoshi… are we still friends?” 

Wakatoshi stares at Tendou, who looks more and more like he just wants to disappear. Had Wakatoshi done something wrong? He understood that not hanging out for a while has affected Satori, but he hadn’t expected something like this... 

“Satori…” Wakatoshi begins, and Satori looks up at him in surprise at his first name, “I know… I know we haven’t been as close, compared to earlier.” Wakatoshi tries to find the words to continue. “You’re still my best friend Satori.” 

Satori’s eyes shine, with the way he’s looking up at Wakatoshi helping his eyes catch the light of his room. His cheeks had lost quite a bit of their roundness throughout middle school, which Wakatoshi had privately mourned, but Wakatoshi still finds himself wanting to cup his cheek in his hand. Thoughts like this had only gotten more common throughout middle school, the warmth in his chest only getting warmer. Wakatoshi tries to shake it off.

“No one could ever replace you Sato-” Wakatoshi tries to continue. Only to get cut off as Tendou gets up from the floor and tackles him. He whispers something into Wakatoshi’s chest that he can’t hear, and hugs him tighter. Wakatoshi smiles gently and rests a hand on Tendou's back, it seems they were still friends.

They laid like that on Wakatoshi’s bed for a while, listening to their breathing and the sounds coming from other areas of the house.

“Satori…” Tendou looks up at him, cheeks red and still slightly wet from his tears earlier. It takes all of Wakatoshi’s self control not to just stare at him. “What high school _are_ you going to?”

For the first time since he had arrived Tendou looks happy. He shoots him one of the biggest smiles Wakatoshi has seen in awhile.

“Shiratorizawa of course!”

Wakatoshi hugs him tighter and lets himself smile. Looks like they still had time.

They both still had homework, and Wakatoshi still felt like he had to apologize, but they fall asleep entangled together, remaining together until Wakatoshi’s mother wakes them up the next morning. 

They still had time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wakatoshi does not consider himself a liar, but if he had to avoid telling certain people about he spent some of his time after losing to Karasuno… That was something completely different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Let me preface this by saying I am SO sorry in the time it has taken me to finish this! I was so excited to finish and present you with because I love your work and I wanted to give you something to enjoy and have fun with, so I'm sorry I wasn't able to give you that on time and I really hope you enjoy this!
> 
> This ended up being almost twice as long as it was originally planned to be,,, so take that as an extra apology if you would like to?

Wakatoshi stares at the bed above him.

He had too much free time on his hands. After losing to Karasuno, it felt like his entire life had sizzled down to the three practices a week Washijou wanted him at. He knew many of the third years were enjoying their newly found free time, but Wakatoshi had been restless. All he could do now was wait and do his best at school and practice. 

The thought made him extremely uncomfortable. 

He should have been at nationals right now, and as much as he had judged others in the past for thinking the same thing when they lost, he found himself unable to stop the thought from invading his mind. His practices should’ve been near unbearable at this time of year. He wished Karasuno the best of luck, but his body was running as if he was going to play against some of the best teams in the country in the upcoming weeks. 

His runs had gotten longer, and it had gotten to the point where Washijou looked ready to kick him out of the gym at times. The other starters hadn’t been much better, but it wouldn’t surprise him if they told him he was the worst about it.

He stares at the top bunk harder and wonders if he stared hard enough, he would either fall asleep or it would magically become morning.

“Wakatoshi,” Reon’s tired voice interrupts, “I can hear you thinking from here,” Wakatoshi can see his head peeking out from his bed. He sends Wakatoshi a small smile.

“You cannot hear thoughts,” Wakatoshi replies simply, hoping he could avoid this conversation. 

“Wakatoshi...” 

“It is nothing I cannot fix.” 

Reon sighs and lays back down in his bed, the room is still mostly dark, with only the moonlight bringing light into the room, but Wakatoshi could tell Reon hadn’t dropped it. Wakatoshi stubbornly rolls over and decides to instead stare at the wall.

He knew his actions weren’t the… healthiest, but it probably wasn’t anymore than he normally would’ve been pushed at this time of year.

If he had gone to nationals that is.

He pursues his lips. He needs to stop these thoughts, they aren’t helping him and he really shouldn’t be dwelling on this so heavily. He needs to focus on his future, he didn’t get caught up on these sort of things, he couldn’t get caught up on this. One school had already pulled their sports scholarship, and while he hadn’t been very interested in the school, isn’t very interested in school at all, it was still a reminder of how much harder he had to work.

He could not afford to slack. 

“You know there’s not much we could have done differently Wakatoshi?” Reon’s voice breaks the silence again, Wakatoshi silently curses Reon’s insight. “Wakatoshi we all did our best, we have to accept where we are now.”

“I have accepted where we are,” Wakatoshi responds, not letting any sort of emotion show, because he had accepted it. He just had a different way of showing his acceptance. 

“You need to accept where we are and not work yourself to the bone,” Reon scolds, and Wakatoshi tries not to wince.

“I am working myself a normal amount.”

“ Ushijima.” 

“This is not up for debate.”

“Don’t make me bring in-”

“You wouldn’t ,” Wakatoshi sits up in bed to face Reon whose mouth was set in a determined line. 

“Don’t you think Tendou could help you? You know he cares-”

“He cares but I do not need his help, and he does not need to worry about this.” Wakatoshi lays back down. He had made sure Tendou would not be aware of how hard he had been working. He didn’t want to call it lying, but Tendou hadn’t specifically asked about his training, or how his workouts had increased, so he had never mentioned it. Reon’s brows furrow.

“Does,” Reon pauses, considering his words. “Does Tendou not know how hard you’ve been working?” Wakatoshi thinks there might be a hint of anger in Reon’s tone and perhaps Wakatoshi should not have told him that. 

“He has his own future to worry about,” Wakatoshi insists, “He does not need the extra burden.” 

Based on the way Reon’s face continues to scrunch up in some emotion Wakatoshi can’t quite pick up, he’s pretty sure Reon does not agree with his logic.

“Do you think he’d be happy knowing you’re making these decisions for him?” Reon finally asks after a moment of silence. 

Wakatoshi does not know how to respond to that. 

Reon sighs, and lays down fully again, head disappearing back into his bed. “Think about it okay?” 

Wakatoshi does not respond. 

As he lays down again, prepared to stare at the wall again until he drifts off or has to get up again, Reon adds one more thing.

“But I’m definitely calling Hana.”

Wakatoshi groans in protest as Reon settles himself.

  
  


It takes everything in Wakatoshi not to wince when he sees a yellow track suit at their morning practice the next day. He and Hana had remained close, and Hana and Satori made a surprisingly chaotic duo when left alone, but he knew this was one of the few times he did not want to see her.

“Wakatoshi!” Hana’s menacingly sweet voice carries throughout the gym, immediately bringing the full attention of the gym to him. He does his best not to react, but it is fairly difficult. “How funny, you’re already in the gym!” She continues, the other members in the gym making a path for her to reach Wakatoshi. He mentally scolds their betrayal but the look on her face is a bit scary, and he understands. He isn’t sure he’d get in her way either. “You know I got the oddest text from Reon last night that said third year starters aren’t required to go to morning practice anymore!” 

“Hana I-” he tries, only to be cut off as she reaches him and immediately begins tugging him from the gym. “Is this really necessa-” Hana tugs harder. 

“Isn’t she from Johzenji?” He hears one of their first years whisper, only for Goshiki to immediately shush him and make a motion to look away. Wakatoshi notes to add loyalty exercises to their practice regimen. The team obviously needed it, letting him get dragged out of the gym like this.

As soon as they’re out of the gym Hana releases him and puts her hands on her hips. 

“You want to explain why I got a text from Reon at five in the morning that you were up and getting ready for practice?” 

“Not particularly,” Wakatoshi responds, avoiding her gaze. 

She stares at him, and it’s no wonder she was able to keep the Johzenji team in line because Wakatoshi feels like he’s starting to sweat. She takes a step closer and, while Wakatoshi is not one to be intimidated, he does lean back a bit. 

“Wakatoshi?” A new voice calls, drawing both of their attention. 

He looks over to find Satori standing in front of the door to the gym, giving him an odd look.

“Hi Satori!” Hana responds, demeanor immediately changing upon seeing Satori as she walks over to him.

Wakatoshi watches her pretend she hadn’t been two seconds away from scolding him into next week and feels as if a great injustice is being committed. She smiles brightly as she begins to speak to Satori and he sighs. Satori and Hana had been getting along amazingly since they had started high school. And it had made him happy, until Satori had told him that he had a crush on Hana. That had been…

Uncomfortable. 

But Satori had mysteriously gotten over it before their second year of high school had started, and after that had never brought up anything of the sort. Wakatoshi had found it a bit odd, but it wasn’t something he was going to question. 

No reason to talk about things that would just remind Wakatoshi how pointless his feelings were. 

Satori and Hana continue their conversation and Wakatoshi silently takes this as his cue to escape. He wouldn’t be able to use the gym for practice, but nothing was stopping him from just going on an early morning jog. He could sneak back into the gym after school, or later that night so he could make sure to avoid Hana and Satori.

He’s in the middle of backing away when Satori looks up at him. Hana must have made him laugh because his smile was wide and open, and Wakatoshi feels himself melt a little as the full force of it was aimed at him. His feelings for Satori had only gotten stronger as time went on. Seeing him everyday and spending the majority of their time together didn’t help. The warmth he felt around Satori hadn’t stopped, and some days it felt like it was going to burn him from the inside out. But it hadn't affected practice, and Wakatoshi did his best to ignore it.

But Satori had managed to find ways to invade all his time, and nowadays Wakatoshi had gotten used to walking around with Satori and feeling constantly warm. Now Wakatoshi would think of their quiet days together, sitting in his room watching whatever anime had interested Satori at the time. Or when they went for walks together, which were some of the few times Wakatoshi could fully relax. 

Spending time with Satori had reminded him just how deep his feelings for him went. Even just seeing him smile was enough for him to relax a bit, which Hana had made fun of him for the minute she had realized. She had been bothering him to at least try to say something to Satori since their second year, but Wakatoshi had contented himself with being Satori’s best friend for a while. Nothing needed to change.

Then he notices Hana making her hands into a heart, and sending him kissy faces and realizes she had noticed how he reacted to seeing Satori. He quickly straightens his back and curses the fact Hana knew him so well. 

“Toshi? Tooooshi,” Satori waves a hand in front of his face. “Were you listening?” Wakatoshi had not been. “I asked what you were doing here! Honestly! You need to focus!” 

Hana makes a face at him from behind Satori and doesn’t need to say anything for Wakatoshi to understand his scolding has just resumed.

“Yeah ‘Toshi,’” Hana agrees, mimicking Satori, and Wakatoshi wonders if he stares hard enough she’ll give up. “Why are you here?” 

“I was considering joining the team for practice to help myself prepare for the first year camp,” Wakatoshi says, and technically it isn’t a lie, because he was considering joining the team for practice. He just so happened to also have been having the same thoughts every day since they had lost. He could feel Hana’s disapproving look, but Satori was in front of her and if he tries hard enough he could pretend she wasn’t there. “Is there a reason you’ve decided to attend morning practice?” He asks, instead of thinking about how used he has gotten to lying to his best friend. 

“Well obviously I’m here to help poor lil Taichi!” Satori replies, vibrant as ever, and Wakatoshi’s sure he could power the school with the force of his smile alone, maybe the entire block. “He’s just missed my wonderful help so much since the third years haven’t been around as much! Can you believe that he came to me to ask for help?” 

“That’s very surprising.”

“Isn’t it? But I knew he cared. It was only a matter of time before he recognized that I am the best upperclassmen in the world and will help him with whatever blocking woes he encounters,” Satori proudly pats himself on the back as Hana snickers behind him. 

“I know you really care about our juniors,” Wakatoshi adds, he knows Satori is most likely joking, but he had seen Satori care for Kawanishi since he had become a starter. Satori had seemed ready to jump out of his skin at times whenever he wanted to correct Kawanishi but also not overwhelm him. It had been cute, in a way, and Wakatoshi feels his lips quirk at the memory. 

Hana is back in view and making what have to be somewhat embarrassing faces at him again, and Wakatoshi quickly sets his mouth back into a straight line. Hana pouts at this but Wakatoshi is too busy focusing back on Satori, whose face has gone a nice red. Satori has always looked good in red. 

“Well Wakatoshi actually has to go!” Hana yells, startling both him and Satori. “He thought he was going to practice, but he forgot he and I had something to do today! So now he won’t.” She sends Satori a strained smile and tugs on Wakatoshi’s jacket hard enough he’s sure she has permanently stretched it. 

“Ah… Hana is right,” Wakatoshi agrees noncommittally, looking away. He hears Hana murmur ‘so now you’re bad at lying,’ and tries not to glare at her. 

“You two have something to do at 6 in the morning?” Satori asks, doubt obvious in his voice.

They nod at him.

“We have school in like an hour.”

“Yes.” 

“You don’t even go to school here,” Satori points out to Hana, eyes wide and questioning. 

“That is true,” Hana confirms, and Wakatoshi is impressed at how she doesn’t even react to Satori’s stare. He’s watched some of the tallest and most intimidating high schoolers in the country fall to that stare. He’s watched people a head taller than Satori crumble under that stare. Even Washijou has avoided Satori’s gaze. Meanwhile Hana keeps Satori’s gaze, head craning up an almost comical amount, the 25 centimeters Satori carries over her having no effect. 

“And you two have something to do,” Satori leans even closer to the two of them, “Right. Now?”

“Yes.” They reply again in unison, and Wakatoshi reassures himself it is not a lie. They both did have something to do right now.

Have a very long, soon to be loud, argument.

Satori studies the two of them a bit longer, and Wakatoshi thanks whatever it is that makes things less effective over periods of prolonged exposure because he knows most people would’ve crumbled by this point. But most people hadn’t been best friends with Satori for the majority of their lives.

Or had a very long, serious, almost embarrassingly deep, crush on Satori but he digresses. 

Satori finally sighs a bit and backs off and Wakatoshi tries not to release a breath in relief. He does feel a bit guilty because he understands why Satori questions people the way he did. He’d watched too many other kids turn their backs on him. Had watched too many other kids not even consider him worth their time, and Satori’s trust was something Wakatoshi treasured. But he maintains this is something Satori does not need to know about and that’s why Wakatoshi wasn’t telling him. This wasn’t a lie, simply not giving full details. It was for Satori’s own good.

Definitely.

Satori sighs again but looks ready to drop it. Wakatoshi and Hana don’t move, but he knows they’re both thanking their lucky stars Satori hadn’t found them out. It was a miracle of some kind, but Satori called him Miracle Boy for a reason he supposes.

“Tendou-senpai!!!” Hana and Satori jump at the new voice.

Wakatoshi turns to see Goshiki at the entrance of the gym, face red and patchy, and mouth quivering. He mentally sighs and wonders when the team will learn they cannot bully their future ace too much or this will keep happening. He hears Satori sigh as well and watches him walk to Goshiki, who’s obviously trying very hard to not show he was bothered by whatever had been said to him.

“Tsutomu!” Satori yells, throwing his hands up into the air, bright smile back on his face. “Your bangs are amazing as always,” Wakatoshi hears Hana giggle at that, most likely remembering Satori’s previous haircut. “Is there a reason you’re out here when you should be in there showing everyone why you’re our only first year starter?” 

Satori’s arm is around Goshiki’s shoulders now and his tone was light and joking, but Goshiki already looked more relaxed. Wakatoshi physically forces himself not to smile at the sight. He had commented once that he thought Satori was good with the younger kids and Satori had made a face and teased him about it the entire week. It had been odd, to say the least, but Wakatoshi took the cue to not mention it again.

“Kawanishi said something mean!” Goshiki explains, and there it was. “It didn’t bother me!” He quickly adds, “but Shirabu said it was because he was annoyed you weren’t here yet!” Tendou’s smile grows and he ruffles Goshiki’s hair. “And then Kawanishi threw a ball at Shirabu’s head! And now they’re fighting!” 

“Well thank you for that very helpful rundown!” Tendou turns back to Wakatoshi and Hana, “Unfortunately I must now calm the beast that Taichi has supposedly become from missing me so much! But we’ll have to talk later alright?” They both nod at him.

With that Satori waves them goodbye and walks into the gym, voice disappearing into the general noise of the gym. This time Hana and Wakatoshi _do_ breathe a sigh of relief. Then Hana remembers her mission and promptly begins to drag him away again. Wakatoshi does his best not to sigh as she stretches his jacket even further.

By the time Hana deems them far away enough for a proper scolding, Wakatoshi has already come up with three possible excuses. Reon hadn’t known it, but he had inadvertently helped Wakatoshi realize the faults in his argument. He was getting a scolding no matter what, but at least he could hopefully continue his mission of keeping his practice schedule from Satori.

Hana turns to face him, hands on her hips and face uncertain. Figuring out where to start. Wakatoshi was unsure how much Reon had actually told her, but she had always been good at whipping people into shape. 

Still Hana always manages to surprise him.

“Are you okay?” Is what she ends up asking him, and it’s the last thing Wakatoshi expected to come out of her mouth. 

His first impulse is to lie and say everything was alright. To continue the lie he’d been telling himself and his team that nothing was wrong and nothing was different. 

He glances up at Hana’s face, it’s open, and concerned, and shows all the willingness to listen that Hana’s offered since the day they’d smashed the pencils of Tendou’s bullies together. And he remembers for all the intimidation Hana can carry, she is, at the end of the day, someone who cares deeply about others. And Wakatoshi _really_ wasn’t built for lying. He takes a deep breath, hates how shaky it feels, and hates how hard it is to say the words, but continues. 

“I do not believe I am.”

“Well, the first step is admitting it!” Hana says, with an air of forced confidence, obviously a bit lost on how to continue. She opens her arms “bring it in big guy!”

Wakatoshi feels himself smiling at the words as he hugs her, she had gotten more confident with speaking her mind recently. He suspected it had something to do with the team she was a manager for, but hadn’t brought it up.

"I am not sure how I am going to deal with it," He admits.

Hana adjusts herself in his grip, "Well... We can figure that out together, yeah? One step at a time."

Wakatoshi nods, letting out a breath. They would figure this out. Together.

"Thank you, Misaki."

Hana lets out a breathy laugh, "Don't worry about it Toshi. What are friends for?"

Wakatoshi nods, wondering how to continue from there.

“Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook about how obviously in love you are with Tendou though,” Hana quickly adds, and Wakatoshi sighs. He had been hoping to only have one deep emotional conversation today. “I’m just saying! Might as well confess everything at once!”

Wakatoshi fights down the smile he knows she’s trying to coax out of him, “Alright,” he agrees, “But only if we also discuss the old captain of your school's volleyball team.”

“Wha- Who told you about that!”

“What was his name?” Wakatoshi continues, pretending not to notice her kicking his shins, “Okudake Se-” She cuts him off with a particularly hard kick and he finally smiles as she loudly complains about his timing. He wonders why he ever decided lying to his friends was the better option. He tightens his hug, wondering if he hugs tight enough, his appreciation for this will shine through.

Hana hugs him back hard enough his back cracks.

  
  
  


Wakatoshi stares at the bed again. Hana had left a while ago, they had both missed half the school day but, well. Wakatoshi is pretty sure it was worth it. 

Hana had pointed out quite a few things Wakatoshi had been ignoring. It was so easy to look away from things, to continue piling things up until you had enough to push everything down. A difficult lesson to learn, but one Wakatoshi is glad he did. Now it was just a matter of working on sorting out the pile. Starting with Tendou.

Still, he finds that he feels rather restless, knowing that he would speak to Tendou today. How did one even bring something like this up? He couldn’t just go up to Tendou and say ‘Ah yes, hello my good friend. I care for you very much but I’ve been lying to you for a significant amount of time. I knew this wouldn’t help anybody, but I did it anyway. My bad?’ Wakatoshi smiles to himself at the thought. He knows he’s not great at speaking to others, but even he can tell that isn’t the way to go about it. Maybe the first part of figuring out what to say could be striking what _not_ to say.

Reon walks in then, school bag hanging from his shoulder. He seems unsurprised to find Wakatoshi in their room, considering that he hasn’t seen him all day. 

“I heard morning practice had a visitor from off campus.” Reon says casually as he puts his bag down. Wakatoshi sighs and rolls over. Loyalty exercises were definitely something he would recommend to their coach, maybe also lessons on why gossip is bad. 

“I am unsure of what you’re referring to,” Wakatoshi says into the sheets. 

“You know Wakatoshi,” Reon continues, obviously biting down a smile, “If you keep bringing people on campus you’re going to get in real trouble.” 

Wakatoshi glares at him, and Reon finally breaks and starts chuckling. Wakatoshi sighs again, resting his head back on his pillow. 

There’s silence for a moment before Reon speaks again. 

“Still, I… Hope Hana was able to help.”

Wakatoshi looks up to see that Reon was staring at the counter, obviously troubled. “I wasn’t sure I would be able to help you, so I hope that Hana was.” He clarifies.

“She was.”

Reon smiles, obviously relieved, and goes back to unloading his bag. “Then I’m glad.” Wakatoshi could probably leave it there, Reon seems content with the conversation, and Wakatoshi wasn’t usually one to share but… 

“Thank you Reon.” He says carefully, Reon shoots him a surprised look. “For caring enough to try and help. You are a good friend.” He hopes Reon understands just how much he means it. 

The smile Reon sends him, is one that Wakatoshi feels he hasn’t seen in a while. He feels very close to wanting to smile back, as if the joy from Reon’s smile would amplify if he smiled as well.

It was a nice thought.

Reon seems content to leave it at that. Which Wakatoshi would normally appreciate, but he wants this feeling of… content? Goodwill? To continue, so he decides to speak first again.

“I am speaking to Satori tonight.” 

“Oh?” Reon encourages, very obviously trying to stay as casual as possible. 

“Yes.” 

“Are you… going to tell him anything important?” 

“Yes.”

“Are you going to tell me what it is?”

“It is about,” Wakatoshi thinks about how to phrase it, “my recent scheduling habits.”

“‘Scheduling habits’ huh?” Reon teases.

“Hana made some very valuable observations on the importance Satori and I hold in each other.” He continues, ignoring the jab. “She then pointed out I am running away from my problems, and I do not run from anything. So I am telling Satori tonight.” 

“Well I’m proud of you for figuring this out, even if part of it is just you refusing to be afraid of things.”

“Mhm.” Wakatoshi keeps looking at Reon as he puts his belongings away and begins to pack for practice. There’s really no reason for Wakatoshi to continue, and he already has another big conversation planned for later today, but he wants to tell someone.

“I am also going to tell him something else.”

“Oh?” Reon replies, grabbing his new bag, “Well it’s good you’re getting things off your chest, communication is important to Tendou.” 

“I am going to tell him that I like him.”

Reon drops his bag.

“That I like him romantically,” Wakatoshi clarifies.

“Holy shit.” 

Wakatoshi blinks, it is not often that he hears Reon swear. 

“Wait you’re doing that _today_?” Reon asks, still frozen with his bag on the ground.

“Yes.”

“Oh my god, today???”

“Is there a problem with today?” Wakatoshi asks, brow furrowing. This behavior from Reon was… odd to say the least.

“No! No of course not!” Reon scrambles to pull out his phone, “Just! Just checking the date! What week is it again?”

“We’re in the third week of-”

“YES! Third week?” Reon clarifies, Wakatoshi nods. Reon pumps his fists into the air and points at Wakatoshi, “You! Are an amazing friend! I have to go text some people. About something completely unrelated! But I’ll head to practice first! Good luck with Tendou, I’m sure it’ll go great!” and with that, Reon scoops up his bag and leaves the room.

 _Why would he need to leave to text someone?_ Wakatoshi wonders to himself. 

He thinks about Reon’s words, ‘good luck’? ‘I’m sure it’ll go well’? Reon must not know much about Satori if he thinks lying to Satori will go over well. Maybe he meant it about the fact he’s going to confess to Satori as well? Wakatoshi pushes that down, this wasn’t about what he wanted, it was for Satori. Now was not the time to get his hopes up.

Now to get through practice.

Practice itself had been easier than Wakatoshi expected. Everyone else had been acting so oddly that Satori hadn’t given it a second thought when Wakatoshi had asked to walk back together. Wakatoshi himself wasn’t sure why the others had been acting so weird, but it had worked in his favor so he hadn’t questioned the suspicious glances everyone had been sending him. Even getting hit in the face by ball had barely phased Hayato, and every time Wakatoshi had complimented Satori it felt like the entire gym was holding their breath.

The only people who seemed left out of this were Reon, who had been in a remarkably good mood for the entirety of practice, even letting out small cheers when he got a particularly nice serve over. And then, of course, Satori seemed completely out of the loop that the rest of the team seemed to be on. With all the odd stares and glares they had been getting Wakatoshi was surprised that Satori didn’t just directly ask why everyone was so weird, like he usually might’ve. All in all any odd behavior Wakatoshi might’ve exhibited during that practice was instead drowned by the even odder behavior from the others. Wakatoshi wouldn’t be surprised if Washijou probably experienced more stress in that one practice than he had this entire year. Even Shirabu had seemed suspicious of him during practice, which had been an... odd experience.

It was only after Wakatoshi had changed and waited for Satori to prepare himself as well did he realize that the hardest part of this was yet to come. He could tell others about his plans all he wanted, but it would be nothing like having to tell Satori himself. 

He could feel doubts starting to creep in, slinking into his mind and slowly creating cracks in the iron resolve he had tried to create for himself. He knew Satori was often forgiving, but Wakatoshi was not one to lie, would this be the final crack in their relationship before it ended? Now that Wakatoshi thought about it, he had also been avoiding Satori a bit in recent weeks, before he had seen it as a necessary measure, but now it only feels like another strike against him. And all this had to be taken into account _before_ the fact that he was also confessing. Maybe it would be better to-

“Geez Toshi! That’s quite the face! What’s on your mind?” Satori interrupts his thoughts as he leaves the locker room, adjusting his bag.

Wakatoshi does his best to manage his face into a more neutral expression, not wanting anyone else to notice that he had been concerned over something. If Satori was already onto him before he had even started speaking the rest of this conversation might not bode well.

“Ah Satori, there is,” How to phrase this, “something I must speak to you about.” 

‘Oh? That’s not a great sentence Toshi,” Wakatoshi felt his brow furrow at the response, so that was not the way to phrase it? “Hmmmm, is it possible I’m in trouble?” Satori guesses.

“You could not be in trouble with me,” Wakatoshi feels his brow furrow further at the idea of scolding Satori. “I would not reprimand you.”

“Ah, but aren’t you my captain? Wouldn’t you have to scold me if I was doing poorly at practice? Or if I was being a disturbance?”

“Our season is technically over,” Wakatoshi sniffs, ignoring Satori’s mostly valid point. “While I am technically still captain, you are not continuing volleyball, and your performance at practice is no longer under the scrutiny it once was.” Satori laughs at that and Wakatoshi feels himself relax at the sound. 

“Well then, if I’m not in trouble and you want to talk that really leaves me thinking that you’ve done something.” Satori says, obviously trying to aim for casual. “Does that mean _you’re_ in trouble Toshi?”

Wakatoshi was not prepared to get figured out this quickly. Satori’s tone was open and calm, obviously trying to give him an out in this. A small part of him wanted to take the out, he was sure that he could bring this up another time. Wouldn’t it make more sense for him to plan for it more thoroughly?

Then Wakatoshi hears a voice that sounds suspiciously like Hana ask, _So you’re going to run away again?_ And his mind was set. He did not run from things.

“Would you like to go get some chocolate ice cream before we return to the dorm?” Wakatoshi winces at the sentence that leaves his mouth, maybe he runs a little bit.

Satori gasps dramatically at that, putting his hand over his heart. “Wakatoshi? Trying to give me extra sugar? Who are you and what have you done with my Toshi?” 

Wakatoshi feels himself huff out a laugh at that. Satori was many things, but he would never understand those who thought Satori made others uncomfortable on purpose. Satori was simply not one to beat around the bush, it was a state of mind he could relate to. 

Satori lets out a little hum, “But I guess you must have messed up really badly to be offering me something like that huh?” Satori shoots him a glance, and Wakatoshi knows he’s adding up all his actions from the past week, trying to figure it out before Wakatoshi tells him. Trying to brace himself for whatever it was in advance. 

“I…” And Wakatoshi was sure he had prepared in advance how to word this, but it felt like every word he wanted to say had just left his mind. “If we want to return at a reasonable hour it would be good to go get your ice cream now…”

“No it’s okay Toshi! Lay it on me right here! Right now! I already know it’s gotta be something bad enough you went through the trouble to prep it this far, so might as well get it over with! Worse comes to worse that ice cream you promised me can be my comfort treat!”

Wakatoshi can feel himself hesitating, he had wanted Satori in a good mood before telling him. But if Satori knew already it would most likely defeat the purpose of ice cream first.

“I would prefer to speak to you while we walk,” Wakatoshi decides. It was better than just standing there, and while Wakatoshi wasn’t one to fidget much when he was nervous, he knew it’d be easier to speak if he was moving. 

“Alright then! Let’s get a move on so you can drop this bomb you are oh so worried about on me!”

Wakatoshi winces, “I am... not sure that is an image I am comfortable with.”

“Sorry! Sorry,” Satori takes a breath, “How about you tell me what’s up Toshi.”

With that, Satori continues walking and Wakatoshi begins as well. Now it was the simple task of telling Satori he had been lying to and avoiding him. A piece of cake, someone might say. 

Wakatoshi was not that someone.

Still, he had prepared for this moment, he had planned ahead. He was ready for this, and would not mess it up.

“I have been lying to you,” He begins, and well it wasn’t the ideal beginning but it was better than nothing.

In his periphery he sees Satori stiffen, and tries not to let the pang of guilt he feels at that affect too much. This was better, he tells himself, this was better than leaving Satori in the dark. Lying had consequences, and these were his. _Communication is difficult but necessary_ , Hana’s voice reminds him. Difficult but necessary, like conditioning for volleyball. Difficult but necessary.

Maybe, like conditioning, communication would be something that would become easier with time.

“You have asked about my whereabouts recently, and I have not answered truthfully.”

“What, you mean like during my goodnight texts and stuff?”

“Yes,” Wakatoshi replies, “During those, and at other times when you asked.” He can feel Satori stare at him as they walk, and Wakatoshi knows even if he turns to face him that Satori’s face would be unreadable. 

“Toshi I’ve sent some of those pretty late, y’know?” Satori continues to stare at him, and Wakatoshi isn’t sure what to make of his tone. “If you weren’t in bed, were you in your room?”

“No.”

“In the bathroom?” Satori tries again.

“No.”

“In the _building?_ ”

Wakatoshi winces at the accusatory tone, because he knows that Satori knows the answer to this question, “No, I was not.” 

“So if you weren’t in the building, what were you doing, at what on some days was 1 am, outside?” Satori asks, tone calm again.

“I was practicing,” Wakatoshi states, truthfully and he does feel a little better knowing that it is out, but he knows the implications of that most likely haven’t hit Satori yet.

“Oh, well that feels a little anticlimactic.” Satori says, and finally turns to face forward again as they turn a corner. “I know you practice a lot Toshi,” Satori reminds him, but Wakatoshi does not let himself relax yet because, “Wait.” Satori stops walking and there it is, “You were practicing _every time_ I texted you?”

Wakatoshi stops walking as well, “No,” Satori relaxes a bit, “At times I was also on runs, or working out.”

“What! Every time?”

“Yes…” And Wakatoshi feels the guilt again because that’s Satori’s worried face and he did not like the worried face. He’d made Satori worried before and it was never fun.

“For, wait for how long have you been on this, literally insane by the way because I text you a lot, workout plan?”

“Ah well,” And Wakatoshi does consider not answering here because honestly once he does he knows Satori will figure the rest out on his own, and parts of Wakatoshi still do not want to admit that a loss has managed to throw him so thoroughly. Managed to disrupt him enough that he had thrown himself into anything that might’ve been familiar to try and reorient himself, and had stopped taking care of himself to do so. 

Satori is still staring at him though, and Wakatoshi sighs, he would not allow something like this to continue to affect him so heavily. “How long has it been since we lost to Karasuno?” 

Satori makes a sound like he actually chokes then, and Wakatoshi hurriedly moves to rest a hand on his shoulder to make sure he’s alright. But Satori moves away, holding a hand up as he clears his throat. Wakatoshi cannot ignore how much Satori moving away stings, and he’s sure it shows on his face. 

“I,” Satori starts again, still trying to catch his breath a bit, “I assume you’re telling me this now because you’ve realized that doing that isn’t good for you?”

“Yes, I have. Hana helped.”

“Wait, Hana?” Satori’s face looked like some odd mixture of anger and confusion and Wakatoshi genuinely has no idea where either of those emotions were coming from.

“Yes,” He replies anyways, “You saw her with me this morning.”

“Right, right, sorry,” Satori rubs a hand over his face, “Just a lot I’m thinking about. So you’ve been lying to me for about a month then.”

Wakatoshi does his best to meet his gaze, “Yes. I want to tell you I’m sorry for lying, and also not taking care of myself. I-”

“But you discussed it with Misaki?” Satori cuts him off, and he doesn’t say anything else, but Wakatoshi has a pretty good idea of what might be going unsaid.

_You told her and not me._

“It was not done by my choice, but yes. Reon,” Wakatoshi sighs, “Reon told on me, you could say.”

Satori snorts at that, and while it’s not as happy as it usually is, it gives Wakatoshi hope that he could still be in good standing with Satori. “Reon can be a snitch when he wants to be huh?”

Wakatoshi does not hesitate in answering. “Yes.”

“Pfft. Guess you weren’t happy to be told on, huh Toshi,” And that is much closer to an actual laugh from Satori, and maybe this didn’t have to be that bad. 

“No, it was not-” Wakatoshi gets cut off as Satori turns towards him again.

“Wait! Reon knew?” And there goes the good mood.

“Well-”

“How many people knew?” And Satori’s approaching him now, eyes wide and unblinking.

“I am not-”

“Was it just the third years? Or all the old regulars?”

Wakatoshi honestly was unsure of who else knew. Reon was inevitable, as he was his roommate. But Semi and Kawanishi had been sending him weird looks for the past week or so, and Hayato had seemed to deem it his new personal mission to kick him out of the gym some days.

“I am not sure-”

“Was it the whole team? Oh!” Satori gasps and finally looks away, Wakatoshi relaxes a bit at that. “Was that why everyone was so weird at practice today?” He looks back at Wakatoshi, “Was that why everyone looked like they were going to lose their minds every time I went to talk to you?”

“No. The only people who would’ve known were-” Wakatoshi stops, he blinks. 

Reon _was_ a snitch.

“Ushijima?” Satori startles him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry, I am-” He stops again as the name hits him, he frowns at Satori. “Do not call me that.” Hearing his last name from Satori felt wrong, he hadn’t used it in a very long time.

Satori crosses his arms, face set in a hard line now, “I don’t think you-”

“Please,” Wakatoshi continues, looking away. This was not a great conversation so far, “Please do not use my last name.”

“Fine,” Satori sighs, but his arms remained crossed. “What were you saying?”

Right. Reon. Snitch. 

He feels his eyebrows furrow, but why would the team care as much if it looked like many of them already knew? Were they unaware that Satori didn’t know? That seemed unlikely. Semi was close enough to Satori that he had probably figured it out quickly. Hayato, as well, he seemed like someone who would not shy away from being upfront with someone; would he not instead be more welcoming towards the idea of Wakatoshi metaphorically coming clean? 

But if it wasn’t that, then what would they have been acting so oddly about that involved him and Satori? There weren’t a lot of things about the two of them that would cause them to react intensely enough that it would affect their practice. He had been spending many years with these players, so he was unsure what it could’ve been. The only other thing he had told Reon had been the-

He feels his lips set into a hard line. He looks back at Satori.

“Ohira Reon is a snitch.”

Satori lets out a short laugh at that, and is obviously trying to stop himself from laughing further.

“Toshi! I’m trying to be serious! Don’t say funny things so suddenly!”

“Is it funny if it’s true?” Wakatoshi asks, still completely serious.

Satori lets out an even louder snort at that, and covers his mouth with his hands as he tries to smother the laughter. Wakatoshi isn’t completely sure what’s so funny about what he said, but it’s always nice to see Satori laugh. Hopefully this conversation could be salvaged.

“I’m trying to be serious! This is a serious conversation we’re having about serious things!”

“It is.”

Satori takes a deep breath, calmed down a bit, “So that’s why they were weird then? Reon told them you were going to talk to me about this?”

“That is, not quite what they were reacting to.”

“Oh? What else was there to snitch on you about then?” And Wakatoshi is sure Satori does not know he's doing it but his fists clench when he asks that, and Wakatoshi feels the guilt more than ever. He did not want to see Satori uncomfortable with him, it was horrible.

“I was going to… tell you something else today as well.” Wakatoshi states simply. He does not want to be figured out again. 

“Geez Wakatoshi, quite the troublemaker you’ve been recently huh?” Satori asks, voice a little resigned. “Still, then just tell me now. Will probably be easier than waiting.” 

“I want to apologize for lying first.” Wakatoshi insists.

“Why wait? Just tell me both things now, and then bam! Apology for both,” Satori tries, obviously just wanting to get this over with. “Two birds with one stone.”

Wakatoshi moves towards Satori again, and he’s wordlessly thankful when Satori does not move away. He grabs Satori’s hands, and makes sure that Satori is looking him in the eyes before he speaks again.

“The other thing is not something I want to apologize for.”

Satori stares for a second, before just releasing a slightly breathless, “Oh.”

Wakatoshi isn’t sure where this wave of confidence came from, but he’s going to ride it while he can. 

“We have gotten off track. Satori I am sorry I lied to you. It was undeserved, and I knew how much it would hurt you to know I wasn’t taking care of myself, and that I was lying to you, and I should not have done it. I am sorry for it, and I hope you can forgive me for it. I can only promise to talk to you about these things in the future.” Wakatoshi takes a breath. “What Hana has spoken to me about was very eye opening, as this is not a problem I think I’ve encountered in the past. But I am going to be more careful. I am asking Coach tomorrow to help me plan a proper training schedule, and am going to contact schools and teams that have requested I play for them to properly understand their thoughts on our loss.” He adjusts his grip on Satori’s hands, intertwining their fingers. Satori’s hands are freezing, their natural tendency to be cooler only emphasized by the night air. “I am doing all of that tomorrow. I am talking to you today because,” He squeezes Satori’s hands, “Because I wanted you to be first.” 

Satori’s mouth opens, then closes again, no sound coming out. His eyes are open as wide as Wakatoshi has ever seen them, and Wakatoshi can see the streetlights reflecting in them. He feels the warmth in his chest flare up again, strong as ever. He is suddenly very sure this was the right decision. 

“Toshi,” Satori starts, quietly, voice unsure, “I think I want to know what that second thing is now, because I am getting some _insanely_ mixed signals right now.” 

And he doesn’t have forgiveness yet, hasn’t heard Satori’s true thoughts on the topic, but Wakatoshi knows he should still tell him.

“Satori, I like you,” Wakatoshi states simply, he hears Satori gasp, but he doesn’t try to stop him, so he continues. “I have liked you for a very long time, and have never found the appropriate time to tell you. But I am done keeping things from you,” Satori still looks a bit shell shocked, and Wakatoshi isn’t sure this next part is necessary but he may as well cover all his bases. “I do not expect you to return my feelings, and I hope that this will not negatively affect our relationship. I-” Wakatoshi stops as Satori begins laughing.

He blinks, he had been ready for many reactions, but laughter was not one of them. Satori tries to free his hands and Wakatoshi instinctively grasps them tighter. 

“I’m-” Satori gasps, still trying to disentangle his hands with no luck. “Can you stop being romantic for _one_ second, so I can hug you?” 

Wakatoshi lets go of Satori’s hands then, because that does sound very nice. Satori’s still laughing as he almost jumps on top of Wakatoshi, and Wakatoshi can feel it resounding in his chest as Satori does his best to bring them as close as possible. He’s fairly sure that the warmth is more like burning now, but he can’t find himself to mind it. 

They stay there for a bit longer, and while the burn is still there, it’s nice in its own way. Keeping him warm in the cold night air. He’s sure Satori must feel some of it, if the way he’s trying to bury himself in Wakatoshi’s jacket is anything to go by. 

“So is this you saying that you feel the same?” Wakatoshi asks calmly, smile evident in his voice. Satori giggles at that, and Wakatoshi is fairly sure his heart does something it isn’t supposed to at the sound.

“Yeah Toshi, it is.” Satori smiles up at him, from where his head is resting on Wakatoshi’s shoulder, and his cheeks are red and his smile is making them look even fuller and Wakatoshi feels an indescribable fondness in that moment. Seeing Satori blush was such a rare occurrence and Wakatoshi wanted to see it for the rest of his life. 

“But!” Satori continues, and Wakatoshi tries not to frown, he didn’t really want to hear a ‘but’. “We’re not done talking about your self care habits.” Ah right, they were talking about that weren’t they. 

“Okay.”

“It’s nice you apologized to me. I'm not completely sure how I feel about it yet, and this doesn't fix it! But the apology was the right thing to do and I appreciate it, but you need to apologize to yourself! And all that other self love shit!” Satori goes on, saying something about how lying is bad but so is not taking care of yourself, and how the ‘self care gurus on the internet’ would be very disappointed in him. 

Wakatoshi just stares as Satori continues, making a mental note to go over it with him again later, when he wasn’t thinking about how much he loved Satori. 

Ah, that was probably an important thought. 

“I love you,” Wakatoshi interrupts. 

Satori promptly chokes on what he was saying, coughing a bit before groaning and burying his face in Wakatoshi’s shoulder again. Wakatoshi can’t see his face anymore, but Satori’s ears and neck are a wonderful deep red and he has a pretty good idea of what it might look like. 

“You can’t just _say that_ Toshi!” Satori whines, voice still muffled in his shoulder as he tightens his arms around Wakatoshi’s neck. 

“I can’t?” 

“No!” Satori insists, still not looking up. “I’m the one with the embarrassingly long crush! I’m supposed to say it first! And I'm trying to be caring! And responsible!” 

And Wakatoshi knows it isn’t a competition, that he should just bask in the joy of this moment. But, a small part of him will always want to win, and he is almost completely sure he has Satori beat in this regard.

“I have liked you longer,” he says casually, Satori just shaking his head in disagreement. “It’s true,” He insists. 

“Wakatoshi I’ve liked you since our last year of middle school,” Satori admits, and Wakatoshi can tell it’s important to Satori that he’s admitted this, but it’s all he can do not to beam at the victory. 

“I’ve liked you since we were ten.” 

“What!?” Satori squeaks, voice cracking as he finally lifts his head up from Wakatoshi’s shoulder. 

“It’s true, you can ask Hana. She’s the one who made me realize it.”

“Holy shit Wakatoshi you’ve really got me beat don’t you?” 

Wakatoshi hums in agreement as he continues drinking in what Satori looks like, this is a moment he wants to remember very well. 

Satori blinks then, “Wait, so Misaki knows?” He asks, and Wakatoshi nods. Satori groans again and gives Wakatoshi a serious look, “I think we owe her like, a gift basket or something. Maybe two gift baskets.” 

Wakatoshi raises an eyebrow at that, because that was not exactly what he was expecting.

“Misaki’s known about my crush on you since the beginning of our second year Toshi,” Satori explains, obviously distraught at this information.

Wakatoshi lets out a breath in amusement at that, “So she’s just been watching us pine after each other with nothing to do but encourage us to confess hasn’t she?” He asks, more as a joke than anything else. Still Satori whines again, pulling on his jacket.

“I’m serious! We need to repay her for her hard work in dealing with our pining!” Satori shakes his head, but also looks like he’s about to laugh as well. “We’re the worst aren’t we?”

Wakatoshi hums along noncommittally as Satori continues to suggest increasingly ridiculous things they can give to Hana as thanks. The night is still cold, and he still has other things he needs to figure out, but for now this is enough. This moment is more than enough.

Wakatoshi wonders if they would’ve ended up like this no matter what. That, even if they hadn’t grown up together, or hadn’t spent so long working together, if he’d still end up here with Satori in his arms.

He likes to think they would.

Eventually he does buy Satori his ice cream, and Satori calls it their first date, which Wakatoshi likes. They hold hands all the way back to campus, Satori’s hand still cold, but now slightly warmed by how much it has been leeching heat off of Wakatoshi. Wakatoshi doesn’t mind at all, he has more than enough heat to share. It’s nice, and he easily admits how happy it makes him, even if Satori does end up dropping ice cream right before they walk into the dorm building. They laugh it off and Satori ends up finishing Wakatoshi’s ice cream for him.

And if Wakatoshi walks Satori back to his room, and kisses him in front of his door until Satori’s face is completely red. That is no one’s business but their own. 

Satori is impatient, and Wakatoshi sees no good reason to hide things from the team, so they walk into breakfast the next day holding hands. The only person who seems truly surprised at this is Goshiki, who promptly chokes on his milk before congratulating them. Wakatoshi waits for the inevitable challenge from him, interested in what it will be, but it does not come.

Instead Goshiki puts down his milk and looks Wakatoshi in the eyes as he yells, “Treat Tendou well!” 

Wakatoshi blinks, and he can hear Satori trying to smother his giggles, and Semi trying to quietly tell Goshiki off. He smiles at Goshiki, it seems he’s growing up a bit doesn’t it?

He grips Satori’s hand a bit tighter, “I will,” He responds calmly, then turns towards the rest of the team.

Satori does burst out laughing this time as they watch the entire team open their wallets and hand Reon money. They all look resigned and tired, but Reon’s face is one of complete content. 

“Congratulations on your relationship!” Reon calls from where he is surrounded by Shiratorizawa volleyball club members, all handing him what seems to be considerable amounts of money. 

“Congratulations on your bet win!” Satori calls back jokingly, and Reon shoots them a thumbs up. 

“You couldn’t have waited another few days huh?” Semi teases as he waits to give Reon his money. 

“Love waits for no one,” Wakatoshi responds seriously. 

Semi blinks at that, and Satori’s face begins to color at the words. Even Goshiki seems a bit flustered. 

“Geez, guess I don’t need to give you the shovel talk do I?” Semi finally responds, and Wakatoshi nods in agreement. 

“I care too much about Satori for it to be necessary.”

“Toshi I’m begging you here,” Satori says from behind his hand, face obviously red. “You’re going to kill me.” 

“I’m honestly not even surprised you guys are one of those couples at this point,” Semi snorts. He waves at them as the rest of the team finally finishes paying Reon and he heads over to pay up, “Still, congrats you guys. We’ve all been waiting for it.” 

Wakatoshi nods again as Semi walks towards Reon, wallet out. Satori sighs, face less red than it was a minute ago.

“Looks like that’s done with huh Toshi! Easier than expected!” 

“I am not surprised the team accepted us so easily. We all care for each other, it is expected we would want each other to be happy,” Wakatoshi looks at Satori again. “And you make me happy.” 

Satori covers his face with his hand again, “You’re killing me here Toshi! You’re really, actually, killing me!” 

Wakatoshi smiles as they get in line for food together, “I am not going to stop.” 

“Toshi! C’mon! Have some mercy!” 

“No.”

“Toshiiii,” Satori whines, and Wakatoshi feels the warmth, as strong as ever bubble up in his chest again. 

This was absolutely something he could get used to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reon after talking to Ushijima in the "USHITEN REAL" group chat: Screw every single one of you, except for Goshiki, for EVER doubting me. I am the BEST friend in the world and you're ALL about to know it. Never doubt me again assholes.  
> Yamagata in response: ??????? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??????? WHY IS IT IN THIS CHAT??????? HELLO?????????]  
> [Tendou, after getting back to his dorm in the general Shiratorizawa group chat: "Ohira Reon is a Snitch" -Wakatoshi Ushijima like. 20 minutes ago.  
> Reon, now with the fear of god in him: ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????]  
> The way the bet worked was that everyone chose a month and year they thought the confession would happen, and then they were allowed to double down on their amount bet by also specifying the week of the month they thought it would be, and let me tell you Reon just made BANK.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it!! Epilogue soon!!! It also ended it being way longer than it was supposed to be because I have no chill ig! I hope you enjoy it!!!  
> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm here! I'm. I am so. sorry this is late again. And for the format this ended up being in. I was so close to being done with this chapter when I posted the last chapter and then I literally played myself by accidentally making this chapter 3 times the length it was originally planned to be? That one's on me please know I am embarrassed by my inability to make things short i am Sorry.  
> Here's the epilogue!! Technically no manga spoilers if you haven't read it bc most of it is personal hcs I had before we got canon stuff!  
> if u have read the manga then. Maybe easter eggs?  
> Anyways I hope you like it and don't have to worry abt this being finished anymore kdfgj  
> Have a nice day!  
> Disclaimer: i am absolutely sure this is not how the olympics work. But now they do work like this bc i said so.

Wakatoshi glances at the stands again, starting to doubt the likelihood of Satori showing up. He had known they were pushing it close in the first place, and had calmly told himself that if Satori misses the first game, it was not a big deal. He had played plenty of games without Satori’s support in person. Because as much as Satori tried, it would be almost impossible to attend every single one of Wakatoshi’s games. Whether or not Satori attended this game or not would have no bearing on his performance today.

But it would be nice to have him there, wouldn’t it?

“Ushijima!” 

Wakatoshi startles as a staff members runs over to him waving a few papers around. “Sorry to bother you,” They begin in slightly accented English, “But here are the papers for your team’s schedule for the next few days, we’ve been trying to track down your coach for the past few hours but no one has been able to find him, can you give it to him?”

“Ah, yes,” Wakatoshi replies slowly, taking the papers. Accent or no, they spoke quickly, and no matter how much Wakatoshi was forced to practice, English had never been his strong suit.

“Thank you! Good luck today!” They waved as they ran back to wherever they had appeared from. 

Wakatoshi takes another glance at the stands, just in case, then goes to find his coach. 

When his coach had told the team they could each choose to give tickets to a family member or friend, Wakatoshi knew immediately he would be giving one to his mother. She had been the one who had made sure that no matter what, he would be able to remain in volleyball after his father left. No matter how much the rest of the family wanted him to pursue other endeavors, she would not budge. He owed her a great deal, and could think of no better way to show her the merits of his hard work than an invitation to the Olympics.

So when she had rejected the ticket, citing her health, and the fact that even a short trip to Rio would most likely be too stressful for her to handle, he had more or less been booted back to square one.

He had briefly considered inviting his father, as he knew that his father was still following his matches, but he was still a bit unsure in his interactions with him. Added onto the fact that Wakatoshi wouldn’t be surprised if his father found his own way to the Olympics, it felt wrong to give him the invitation.

That then left him with inviting Satori. 

It was a very present temptation, it had been a while since he had Satori’s cheers ringing through the gymnasium during an actual game. Satori was often too busy building his own career to actually appear at the majority of Wakatoshi’s games. It’s not something he blames Satori for in the least, but it would be a lie to say he does not miss his presence while playing. The idea of having Satori present for what may be one of the most important events in his career was… thrilling to say the least.

He still hesitated, it makes sense that if Satori already has issues attending regular matches in Japan, that more than a week straight of matches on what was more or less the other side of the world would be quite the challenge to attend. Wakatoshi knew Satori already spent a great deal of time balancing school and his current job, and it constantly reassures Wakatoshi that his choice to immediately join the V. League and not attend college was the right one. Satori often came home exhausted, and Wakatoshi found himself adjusting to Satori’s schedule more often than not in order to maintain their daily calls. He did not see it as a burden, but he knew it was unlikely that Satori would be able to get the time off needed to attend the Olympics. 

Wakatoshi stared at his phone, at the form where they would put the information of the person they were inviting so they could reserve their tickets. Satori may not be able to attend every game… but at least one… at least one game would be enough for him.   
He texts Satori that day.

_I would like to call._

Wakatoshi can hear the crowd yelling from inside the hall. He had played for large games before, even represented Japan for the U-19 team, but this was different. He had thought that he was used to the size of gyms, that he could no longer be surprised by the size they could reach, but Rio really was different. He takes a breath as he waits; they would be up soon. He tries to focus on the noise of the crowd, they were close enough that they could hear the cheers but the sound was muffled enough it wasn’t hurting his ears yet. He told himself he wasn’t looking for anyone, that he wasn’t trying to see if he could hear one specific high, slightly nasally cheer. He takes another breath, focusing on the sound. 

Nothing. 

He’s not sure why he’s so focused on this. Satori had texted him the day before, something about work, but nothing about suddenly canceling the trip. He had done this before, playing without Satori. It was not a big deal, so he didn’t know why he was worrying about it.

He lets out the breath, makes a decision, and walks up to their coach. They had turned in their devices a while ago, to make sure they wouldn’t have any distractions, but he knew they’d make exceptions. He wasn’t sure this counted as an emergency but if he told them it’d improve his performance…

The assistant coach gives him an odd look as he approaches, “Something wrong Ushijima?” 

“I would like to make a call,” Wakatoshi states simply. His assistant coach raises an eyebrow, “It will be quick.” 

“You guys are on for warm up in 15 minutes. I’m not sure that you really have the time-”

“It will be ten minutes at most,” Wakatoshi insists, his coach sighs.

“You have five minutes,” His coach tells him, retrieving his phone from their bag of belongings and tossing it to him.

“Thank you, I will stay aware of the time.”

And with that Wakatoshi turns around and calls Hana. 

Wakatoshi hadn’t been nervous to tell Satori about the opportunity. He was just, fairly invested in the answer that he would receive. He was not nervous, as he did not get nervous.

But he had been a bit impatient to know what the response would be.

He would have accepted whatever response Satori gave him, of course. It was just that this was definitely one of the bigger things that he had asked of Satori. Asking someone to do their best for you on the court was one thing, asking them to fly halfway across the world to watch you play volleyball was another.

But, then Satori had called and Wakatoshi had been too busy listening to him talk about his day, and updating him on anything new that had occurred to worry too much about it. Satori was as interesting and as talkative as ever, and Wakatoshi found himself easily caught up in the rhythm of their conversation. He never understood those who thought Satori spoke too much, as if Satori wasn’t the type of person you could listen to all day, or like Satori didn’t allow others to take part in conversation. Wakatohsi found himself so distracted it wasn’t until it was getting towards the end of their call did he remember to bring it up, as he realized how late it was getting.

“Oh yeah you wanted to talk about something right ‘Toshi?” Satori had asked, noticing when Wakatoshi began to try and change the topic.

“Ah,” Wakatoshi paused, caught off guard. “Yes.”

“So what’s up ‘Toshi?”

“The Japanese men’s volleyball team has advanced to play at the Rio Olympics.” Wakatoshi begins.

Satori laughed, “I knew that already ‘Toshi, I do follow your career y’know?”

Wakatoshi did know, “I know.”

“So?”

“So, I would like you to know that I am able to bring someone along with me.”

“Oh that’s nice!” Satori had mumbled, smile soft and slightly sleepy. Wakatoshi had smiled a bit at the sight of it. He and Satori’s level of comfort around each other never ceased to make the warmth in his chest burn that much hotter. “Are you bringing your mom?”

“I would like to bring you.”

Up until that point, Satori had been slowly getting sleepier, his eyelids drooping more and more as time passed, and his head slowly getting closer to the surface of his desk; really, the only reason they hadn’t ended the call had been at his insistence that he wasn’t tired. Wakatoshi was thankful for it, otherwise he would’ve forgotten to ask. But, well, that got his attention. Satori’s eyes had popped open, and he sat up so quickly he almost fell off his chair. There was a brief moment where he lurched to the side hard enough he wasn’t even on screen, and Wakatoshi almost asked if he was alright before Satori zipped right back into place. Mouth now closed, but eyes just as wide. Wakatoshi remembers waiting for him to say something as Satori stared into the camera.

The silence had continued for quite a while after that, the both of them just staring at their respective laptop screens.

Wakatoshi shifted in his seat, waiting for Satori to say something. Did he hear it correctly? Was he confused about what Wakatoshi meant?  
Wakatoshi opened his mouth to repeat it, maybe clarify a bit more, but Satori beat him to it.

“I know what you meant.”

Wakatoshi closed his mouth, unsure of what this reaction meant. “Oh.”

The silence continued for a bit more after that, Satori’s face almost blank if not for the way his eyes still looked as if they were just a centimeter away from falling out of his face. Wakatoshi hadn’t been unsure in a while, but he knew he was definitely unsure in that moment. He had been preparing himself for many different answers, ranging from a solid yes (optimistic), to a hard no (pessimistic), to a flaky maybe (unlikely, Satori wasn’t like that), to a ‘Let me figure out my schedule and then we can talk about it after’ (most likely). He was, very unprepared for receiving no answer at all.

Finally Satori broke the silence, the sound of his voice quickly refocusing Wakatoshi back to the conversation.

“You… want me to go?” Satori asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“You want me to be the person you bring along with you to Rio?”

“Yes.”

“Even though I’ve been really busy lately? And we haven’t been able to be together as much?”

Wakatoshi’s brow furrowed at that, was Satori concerned about their lack of time together? Wakatoshi wasn’t happy about it, but he did not see it as something negative, just something they would ride through together until things calmed down for the both of them. Maybe they would have to communicate a bit more on that.

“If anything, it makes me want to bring you more so that I may spend more time with you.

Satori had let out a deep breath at that, “You’re sure ‘Toshi?”

Wakatoshi didn’t hesitate in his answer. “Absolutely.”

“Okay.” Satori leaned back in his chair, finally looking away from the screen. “Okay, well. That’s good then.”

“The question now is, whether you want to go.” Wakatoshi reminded him, wondering if maybe even after all this questioning perhaps Satori did not actually want to attend.

“I… I want to go.” Satori confirmed, nervously biting his lip. Wakatoshi felt his shoulders sag a bit in relief, that was a good start. “But I-”

“You do not have to worry about it too much yet.” Wakatoshi had stated simply, knowing that Satori would have many things to figure out before he could confirm whether he could actually attend. “You want to go, and I want you to be there. We can figure things out past that together.”

Satori let out another breathy laugh at that. Taking a deep breath and letting any remaining tension out of his body.

“You’re right Miracle Boy, we’ll figure it out together.”

“Yes, we will.” Wakatoshi confirmed. He paused for a second, “It has been a while since you have used that nickname.”

Satori sent him another soft smile, full of warmth, “Well Miracle Boy! You never seem to outgrow it!”

Now Wakatoshi stands in the hall outside the gym, casually leaning against a wall as he clutches his phone for all it’s worth. His phone is ringing still, and while he knows that his plan covers international calls he has to wonder if this will be the time it finally drops on him.

Luckily his phone plan continues to pull through as Hana finally picks up, her voice a bit tinnier than usual, but undoubtedly her.

“Wakatoshi? Is that you? Why are you calling?” Comes her voice, obviously confused, and maybe a bit concerned.

“Ah. Well.” How to explain this. “You know...”

“Aren’t you supposed to be out there soon? I have the TV on already!” And if Wakatoshi listens closely he’s pretty sure he can hear the cheers reflected across the line, and maybe the voice of a sports announcer saying something about the men’s team. “I have my cheering gear on and everything! I even got stuff with your name on it for me and Okudake!” Wakatoshi hears the distinct _tump tump tump_ of those odd inflatable cheering signs that he often sees at games across the line, as who is presumably Okudake thumps them together in agreement. It seemed Okudake was as excited to watch the game as Hana was.

“Thank you for your support.”

Hana laughs at that, the panic fading from her voice, “But really Wakkun, why’d you call? Is everything alright? Did Satori not pick up?”

“I do not believe Satori has arrived yet.” Wakatoshi replies, keeping his voice as level as possible.

“Oh.”

“Yes.”

“Are you worried about it?” Hana asks, and part of Wakatoshi immediately wants to say yes. Satori was not one to be late, and while they knew that they were pushing it close when they arranged his flight, he should have been able to make it to the arena well before warm up.

But Wakatoshi has a feeling that is not just what Hana means, Hana was never one to take her support lightly. She knows that he was looking forward to having Satori here, and that Satori is a pillar of support during his matches. He hears Hana mumble something to Okudake before he replies.

“I am concerned over his well being yes.” Wakatoshi confirms.

“And..?”

“... and I am worried that not having him here may end up affecting my performance in some way.” Wakatoshi begrudgingly confirms as well.

“Well on the first point, I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I just had Okudake look up Satori’s flight, and it looks like it got delayed, which is probably why he’s not there yet.”

Right. You could check those things.

“Oh, thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it!” Comes Okudake’s voice from across the line.

“Now about the second thing, why are you worried about your performance?”

“I am… unsure.” Wakatoshi admits, and maybe trying to have a conversation like this in under five minutes wasn’t the best plan. “I am used to having Satori’s support.”

“Are you saying you don’t have it now?”

“I…”

“Wakatoshi, you know you’ll always have Satori’s support. On or off the court. He may not be there now, and I’d bet almost anything that his phone died on the flight over here because he forgot to put a charger in his bag, even though we all told him to pack one 300 times. But you know he’s doing his best to get there now, and that he’s hoping more than anything that you’ll go out there and do your best.”

The words hit Wakatoshi like a splash of cool water. They weren’t harsh, but they brought him back, grounded him in the moment. Hana was right, of course, she prided herself in that regard, and never let he and Satori forget it.

He knew that to most it would have seemed fairly obvious, but even Wakatoshi could admit that sometimes just hearing someone else say it helped. Satori wasn’t here, but he always had Wakatoshi’s back, that wouldn’t be changing any time soon.

“Thank you, Hana.” Wakatoshi finally gets out. Words had become easier with her and Satori over time, but they did still escape him at times. “Thank you for your help, again. You are one of my best friends.”

Hana laughs a bit at that, and Wakatoshi knows her well enough to know it’s not mean. He smiles a bit at the sound, and wonders how mad she’d be if he poked fun at how smitten Okudake probably looked right now.

“Of course Toshi.” Hana replies, still laughing a bit. “It’s been a while since something has shaken you huh?”

“Yes, I have been doing very well recently because of the self care routines Satori enforces.” Hana starts laughing again at that, she has seen what the self care sessions could entail. Even still has the picture of Wakatoshi in his homemade face mask saved as his contact photo. Wakatoshi continues, “He also makes sure we sit down at least once a week to ‘drip the tea,’ as he puts it.”

Hana groans at that and Wakatoshi knows he’s got her, “You know that’s wrong, I swear you know that’s wrong and you only do this to annoy me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” He replies, completely aware he’s not even trying to hide the amusement in his voice. “I am sorry I am not… _hip_ enough to keep up with your references.”

“I take everything back, you’re the worst and I hope we lose. I can’t watch you win in good conscious knowing you say things like this off the court,” Hana complains.

“Wig.”

That one sets her off onto a laughing fit, and Wakatoshi feels very satisfied with himself at it. He’s pretty sure if he listens hard enough he can hear Okudake laughing as well. Eventually though, she does calm down, and her voice is soft and content when she asks,

“Are you okay?”

Wakatoshi feels the smile on his face grow, “Yes Misaki, I am okay,” If anything he was more than okay. He’s sure she knows. “Thank you.”

“Okay, Toshi. I’m sure your coaches are losing their minds right now, so I’ll let you go now. Go win us a gold medal!” Hana finishes, and Wakatoshi hears Okudake repeat the sentiment, accompanied by the _tump tump tump_ in the background.

"Of course,” Wakatoshi replies confidently, “Thank you for your support.”

And with that he hangs up and returns his phone to his coach right as the doors open.

He had a game to win.

Tendou Satori is not an angry person. Sure, he could be loud a times, maybe a bit over expressive, but he was never really angry with people. He can’t really think of anything he was ever seriously angry over in the last 5 or 6 years of his life, especially since getting together with Wakatoshi. While this trait hadn’t done him well in the face of bullies, he liked to think it had made him comfortably adaptable to most situations in life.

But now Satori feels like he’s been running on anger alone for the past day and a half, and can’t really tell if he’s angry anymore or just so tired that he’s hanging onto the anger to just make sure he doesn’t pass out at the airports as he tries to wave down a taxi.

He sighs as another car drives by, very much regretting not taking Kita up on the offer to come together. He knew there was a good reason, and that he was coming later because of work, but he has to imagine that having anyone with him right now would make this more bearable. Finally a cab seemingly takes pity and stops for him, he tries not to grumble about the price because he can tell he’s being overcharged. Well, beggars can’t be choosers he supposes.

Money isn’t much to be able to see Wakatoshi play.

When Satori had heard the offer come out of Wakatoshi’s mouth the first thing he had begun to do was plan.

Okay, that was a lie, the first thing he had done was panic. But after that it was definitely planning!

Satori cannot say he is one for long well thought out plans. They had never really worked out for him the way he thought they would. He had planned to spend most of his childhood alone after seeing the way other kids had reacted to him. That hadn’t worked out after meeting Wakatoshi. Then he had planned to only have one friend for the rest of his life… only for that to be overturned as well after meeting Misaki and the rest of the Shiratorizawa team.

Then he had been almost absolutely certain that after losing to Karasuno, Wakatoshi would leave him behind. Not by choice of course, no Satori had been prepared for an award winning drama about how Wakatoshi’s pro athlete dreams slowly ripped him away. Prepared for dramatic, emotion filled, _I’m sorry I couldn’t make it_ ’s and _I’m just too busy_ ’s.

Instead he had been met with Wakatoshi confessing and ending up dating the boy he had been latched onto since he was 8.

So no, Satori was not a “planner.”

At least not a long term one, planning a jump for a block was something he’d readily admit to being proficient in. Much to annoyance of every athlete he’d ever played. But that wasn’t the point.

Wakatoshi’s offer was the first time Satori had absolutely realized he’d have to buckle down and make some really concrete plans. Not something he could just make a vague outline for but something he’d have to talk to other people, like his boss and probably at least one professor. Even if it was less than a week, it’d take a lot on his end to be able to make it.

But boy he had wanted to do it.

Satori pants as he runs towards the stadium, he was late because of course he was, and he was never planning anything ever again! If it wasn’t traffic then it was the airline, and boy oh boy Satori had some words for LATAM, but at the very least he was here now! The game should still be going and now it was just a matter of finding where on earth he was supposed to walk in from.

Once again the regret from not coming with Kita, or at least one of the Hirugami’s, hits as he runs around asking staff for some sort of directions. He silently regrets his choice to take French instead of Portuguese, or at least Spanish as he struggles to communicate. Even his English was rusty because he had been focusing so much on French. He silently curses the language. People had warned him that it wasn’t the most useful language, that it was a bitch to learn at times, and had he listened? No. The topping on the cake would be him never even using it in the future, something which unfortunately, had a high probability.

Well no matter, now he just had to find which door was meant for his ticket and sit down in the next ten minutes, and he should be perfectly fine to catch at least one set of the match. He checks his phone, score was still 12-15 with only one set behind them. He hates to hope that Japan loses a set, but it’d ensure him a full set to watch, so he does it anyways.

He finally manages to find his entrance on the other side of the building after looking particularly desperate as he points at the “Friends and Family” title on his ticket while speaking to a staff member. A small part of his mind whispers that coming with Kita probably would’ve made finding it easier, and he quickly shuts it up, reminding himself that Kita doesn’t speak Portuguese or English. Kita probably would’ve had an even harder time finding the entrance than he did.

He stops as he reaches the doors, taking a second to think. Kita had made it alright hadn’t he? Was he lost right now?

He shakes off the thought, if Kita were lost he probably would’ve heard about it already. His phone was dead but Aran has always been good at finding ways to make sure no one could avoid him. If Kita were lost Aran and Atsumu probably would’ve been looking for him at the airport and Satori wouldn’t have had to go through the trouble of running the entire circumference of the stadium. He sighs as he grabs the door handle, he had a game to watch.

Working at a bakery had probably been one of the best choices Satori had made in his adult life. The hours were disgusting, and on the days he knew he was waking up early than Wakatoshi, he wanted to go back to his past self and strangle him. Or maybe go back and tell his high school self to cherish his precious days off from morning practice, and sleeping in. Still, there was something about baking and making sweets for people that really appealed to him. Maybe it was the smiles on people’s faces as they ate what he made, or maybe it was the fact he was allowed to take one thing home as long as he made it, but he did enjoy it.

Balancing his job and his education, was not something he enjoyed.

Still, he did it, if only to avoid the temptation of Wakatoshi’s offer to pay for what he needed. He would not take the money, he could already see Semi’s face upon learning he had taken some large of sum of money from Wakatoshi, could hear the teasing in his head now. Friend or no friend, Satori would never let Semi have a leg up on him.

_Never._

Still, as Satori woke up for another 4:30-8:00 am shift, he seriously considered just quitting for the trip to Rio and dealing with the consequences later. Tendou’s were not made to rise early, a fact he had unwittingly learned as soon as he had begun attending morning practices in high school. No matter how many times Reon and Hayato dragged him out of bed, he had never gotten used to the early morning wake up. Maybe one day it’d come in handy, but much like French, he seriously doubted it.

It takes him four full shifts to needle out a week and a half off, with the promise of helping his boss hire someone else to cover for him while he was away, and working basically double until he had to go.

He had silently thanked whatever god had been keeping Taichi from keeping a job at the time, because he was exactly what the bakery had needed. Satori’s boss had even offered to let him take a full two weeks off if Taichi was willing to stay.

Never had Satori come closer to bribing someone than he had at that moment.

Luckily Taichi still needed a job, and had accepted easily, securing Satori a full two weeks off. Ignoring any summer assignments, Satori was basically covered.

Unfortunately that had left Satori to play the waiting game. Which, because of the extra work he had agreed to, and planning summer assignments in advance, had more or less turned into the, “How hard can I work myself without passing out” game.

Then, right as Satori had been sure his plan was perfect, his boss had called asking him to fill in a shift the day he had to leave. Satori had agreed easily, and then immediately regretted it once he saw how close to the flight he’d end up leaving after the shift. He had already pushed it close, choosing to arrive the day of the first game to be able to work as much as possible, and he couldn’t even think of missing his flight.

Then he had run into traffic on his way to the airport, and driving was an endeavor he pledged to never take up again. He was running late by the time he got to the airport, and he had thought his heart was beating fast enough he was going to die. But then that hadn’t mattered! Because his flight had gotten delayed due to weather, and Satori had spent the four hour wait in the airport cursing plans.

But that was in the past! He was here now! Trying to find his seat as the entire gymnasium screamed as someone made another killer save and dammit he just wants to sit down.

He turns to look at the court as the crowd screams again, watching the ball roll on the court. Point for Japan then, he allows himself a small smile and quickly goes to check who’s serving before he goes back to finding his seat. He quickly glances, only to see Wakatoshi standing in position.

Oh _fuck_ sitting down then.

Satori abandons his search for his seat, and runs as best he can towards the closest he can get to the court, almost clothes lining himself on the bar as he reaches the barrier. He takes a second to mourn his stomach and regain his breath only to let out a loud,

“MIRACLE BOY!”

He sees Wakatoshi start to turn, and opens his mouth to call out his name, only to get interrupted by the roar from the Japanese cheering section as they all continue the cheer.

“USHIJIMA WAKATOSHI!”

Satori feels like his eyes are going to pop out of his head as he rushes to cover his ears. He knew that Wakatoshi was pretty popular, but that was enough people yelling that Satori wasn’t completely sure he was hearing at the level he had been 20 seconds ago.

Still, the cheer is enough to ensure Wakatoshi turns, and catches Satori’s gaze.

Satori was not one for being overly cheesy or romantic, Wakatoshi had established early on that he could handle that perfectly fine. Satori was more in the business of being more braggy about how amazing his boyfriend was, and less about the weird romance tropes Wakatoshi somehow kept discovering. Still, he is absolutely sure that time stops when he and Wakatoshi lock eyes.

He can feel a smile overtake his face, and he knew their relationship was technically on the down low, but he cannot keep back the over enthusiastic wave and a loud “TOSHI!!”

Wakatoshi sends him back a wide smile, and Satori feels part of himself melt. Wakatoshi had no right to be as handsome as he was.

Satori barely has time to fully appreciate just how good looking his boyfriend is though, before he’s deafened by the cheering section again. He quickly covers his ears as they scream again, and wow Satori was regretting not getting those ear plugs at the gift shop. He glances back the court, Wakatoshi hadn’t served yet, why were they-

The smile fades from Wakatoshi’s face as the whistle blows, and the cheering calms down. Satori looks back at the cheering squad, now quiet, then back at Wakatoshi, no longer smiling.  
Then he laughs, very very hard.

Of course Wakatoshi’s smile would be the thing to make the crowd go crazy. He was a Miracle after all.

Satori settles himself at the barrier, accepting the fact he wouldn’t be sitting down anytime soon. He already had the best seat in the house.

After dropping the second set, the National team crushes the third set, with the announcers mentioning that Ushijima seems to have managed to up his game even more. Satori cheers enough he’s pretty sure the people around him are sick of him, but he honestly could not care. His throat already feels a bit scratchy, and he can tell that he’s going to need to take some serious care of it if he doesn’t want to lose his voice by the end of the trip.

It’s definitely worth it.

After the match, Satori uses the rest of his willpower to stop himself from tackling Wakatoshi in front of all the cameras. Part of him knows that it’s great for Wakatoshi’s publicity that he’s getting interviewed for what feels like an eternity. But the other part of him thinks all reporters are jerks that should leave Wakatoshi alone so that Satori can kiss the living daylights out of him.

When Wakatoshi finally walks back into the hallway, Satori’s ready, and immediately jumps on top of him. Wakatoshi barely stumbles once the weight hits him, only shifting to hold him more comfortably.

“You won!” Satori yells, plastering himself as much as possible against his boyfriend.

Wakatoshi chuckles a bit as he continues walking down the hall towards his team, “We did win.”

“You’re amazing!”

“Yes,”Wakatoshi agrees easily, smiling.

Satori laughs at that, almost completely certain that Wakatoshi had no idea what he was saying. Wakatoshi’s smile and eyes were soft, and Satori can feel his face heating up. That expression being aimed at him was still something he was getting used to. He buries his face in Wakatoshi’s chest, they had plenty of time to continue getting used to each other.

“I’m sorry I basically missed the first half though Toshi! You’ve gotta believe me when I tell you the trip here seemed hellbent on making sure I missed the game!”

Wakatoshi nods at that as he puts Satori down, “I believe you, Hana told me that your flight got delayed.”

Satori raises an eyebrow at that, “Awwww Toshi did you call Hana?” He needles playfully. A small part of him is sad he couldn’t have been there, but another is ridiculously proud of Wakatoshi for reaching out before he could over think it.

“Ah, yes. She was helpful in helping me regain my footing.”

“Anything I should keep an eye out for?”

At that, Wakatoshi turns away. Satori feels his eyebrows raise higher, and if he looks close enough he swears that he must be blushing at least a little bit. “Oh? Toshi, is there something you wanna tell me?”

Wakatoshi lets out a quick cough, and continues walking towards his team, “It will no longer be an issue. I must rejoin my team to receive our schedule for the rest of the day.”

“What!” Satori yells as he rushes to follow Wakatoshi, “Now I’m even more curious! You can’t just not tell me after giving such a vague answer!”

Wakatoshi stops then, and Satori has to stop so quickly he almost falls over to avoid running into him. He opens his mouth to complain, when Wakatoshi interrupts him by grabbing his hand and entwining their fingers together.

“Let me simply say that I am very happy that you are here now Satori. Your presence is very important to me. Even if you can only attend for a week, having you here at all is something I didn’t know I had wanted so deeply until the opportunity presented itself to me.”

Satori takes a second to appreciate just how much he loves his boyfriend before taking in the entirety of his words. One week? Sure that was true at first, but then Satori had gotten Taichi to cover, and taken that extra shift. Sure it was last minute but it was set in stone that-

“Oh!” Satori gasps as he walks with Wakatoshi. “I forgot to tell you huh! I’m not here for a week!” Wakatoshi raises an eyebrow at him in silent question, “I’m here for all of it! I got a full three weeks off, so even after you go out there and win us a gold medal, we can still hang out!” Satori explains happily.

He should _really_ get better at remembering to text people huh.

Wakatoshi doesn’t say anything for a second, and Satori’s ready to explain it again in case he hadn’t understood. Wakatoshi did have a lot going on after all, and it was on Satori for not texting (oops!). It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch if Wakatoshi’s exhaustion was finally catching up to him.

Instead, Satori lets out a small yelp as he’s pulled into another hug, with Wakatoshi actually lifting him. He scrambles for something to grab onto because yes Wakatoshi was strong, but Satori was almost 190 centimeters tall, you didn’t just _pick him up_. Wakatoshi didn’t seem to get that memo though as he spins Satori around quickly, apparently unaware of Satori’s flailing.

Wakatoshi finally stops and puts him down, and Satori can feel that his entire face must be red. It was one thing if he was the one doing the grabbing, but Wakatoshi wasn’t usually one for things like that. He tries to brush off imaginary dust from his coat, trying to calm his face down before he looks back up at Wakatoshi because geez that was all kinds of bad for his heart.

Satori expects to see another soft smile on Wakatoshi’s face, or maybe a slightly wider one, to account for the extra excitement. Wakatoshi seems intent on continuing to surprise him though, because instead Satori sees wide eyes and a barely contained smile, with the corner’s of Wakatoshi’s lips just barely being upturned.

Satori can’t stop himself from laughing then, because it’s such an open expression of complete excitement. He can barely remember the last time Wakatoshi had looked like that at anything not volleyball related. He entwines their hands again, doing his best to ignore the giggles coming from the rest of National team. Whoever thought Atsumu was mature enough to play on a professional level with other adults, was someone Satori wanted to have a few words with.

“I’m excited too, Toshi” Satori replies softly.

Wakatoshi squeezes his hand gently as he begins walking them towards the team, “We will win. Then I will thank you for your support during my interview, and you will be there to see it.”

Satori feels his own smile get impossibly wider at the words. Wakatoshi had said them like he said everything else, with complete confidence it would happen. He knows Wakatoshi’s going to be do his best to follow through on them.

Satori squeezes his hand back, resting his head on Wakatoshi’s shoulder, “Yeah,” he agrees softly as they walk, “I’d like that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hana: did wakatoshi tell you he called me  
> Satori: yes.  
> Hana: do you know why.  
> Satori: no  
> Hana: he missed u  
> Satori: omg. Toshi... do u have a crush on me or something... omg  
> Wakatoshi, very tired: You're my boyfriend????  
> Edit: wait does anyone know what those things ppl bring to cheer on the team that are like small plastic tubes with words on them called?? You hit them together?? NOT the cones. Please when i was writing this it plagued me  
> Anyways!! I hope you enjoyed!!


End file.
